20th’s Century Fox’s The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Zendaya and Michelle Willams had to compete with a lot of heavy hitters in the theaters when it was released on December 20 such as, Star Wars: The Last Jedi still on top in it’s second week and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Pitch Perfect 3 during it’s second week. The musical film directed by Michael Gracey, according to Forbes, hit a record for the biggest hold from weekend to weekend.

During it’s first weekend, The Greatest Showman had a very slow start only making $8.8 million. But then in it’s second weekend and in fourth place overall in the box office, the film brought in $15.2 million dollars. This is 72 percent increase over its opening weekend making it the best hold for a movie playing in over 3,000 theaters. This is impressive in a market where most films fall about 50% after it’s first weekend. Also, Forbes mentions that it’s also the best hold for a large release when the weekend is extended due to a holiday.

It is speculated that the film is doing this well due to positive audience reviews. Critics were very harsh on the film and Rotten Tomatoes did it no favors with a “rotten” score of 55%, but it held an audience score of 90 percent (and more importantly, an A CinemaScore). Once again showing that there is a gap between what audiences and critics expect from a film. Granted it is not close to being a perfect film, but it has great pacing and is very entertaining for all ages.

However, for the moment The Greatest Showman has made a little under $84 million at the box office worldwide. This is a problem as the film cost $84 million to produce before adding the cost of advertising. So it could really use that positive word of mouth to eventually turn a profit for the studio. Have you seen The Greatest Showman? If so let us know what you thought if it!

20th Century Fox’s The Greatest Showman is now playing in theaters everywhere.

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Source: Forbes, Cinemablend